Christian Mercy Ministry, Missionaries, Mission Trip To Mexico

·          In May, we celebrated Mother’s Day with a special program for the mothers in the education center. The students shared a skit, songs, poems and other written pieces with their parents. This was followed by some interactive games done by the teachers and a time of eating together.
·          In June, the students made some special items to give to their fathers for Father’s Day. One of these items was a written favorite memory of their father and the other was a bookmark with their picture on it.
·          The tenth and eleventh (and final) teacher training courses were presented. The last two topics covered were “Quality of Life,” shared by one of the teachers, Horte, and the other topic was, “Motivational Development,” shared by Kati, our first grade teacher.
·          We were blessed by a visit from students and teachers from Heritage Christian School located in Indianapolis, Indiana. They shared time with the students, presented them with new toys for their outdoor play, built a new play gym and built a shed to hold all of the outdoor toys.
·          Kennedy School came again this year to visit and presented the Education center with a gift of $4,200 MN to help buy textbooks and other necessary material for the coming year. They were able to spend some time with the children as well and the history and purpose of the Education center were shared with them.
·          We now have the first set of textbooks for working with the INEA system and we will begin working with two of our students next year. One of the students will be starting the second level (equivalent to fifth grade) and the other will be beginning the third level (sixth grade). Upon completion of the third level, this student will be able to take his exam and receive his diploma.
·          July 8 th was the last day of classes for the students. They and their parents were presented with their final grades and diplomas were presented to the children that graduated from kindergarten into first grade. July 8 th was also the farewell for the children and various games were planned for them and they were able to watch a couple of movies projected for them.
·          The Education center will open again on August 23rd and classes will begin for students on the August 30th.
·          The final number of students we had in the Education center this year was 47.   Submitted by:       GUSTAVO MÉNDEZ RUBIO

Eirene Education Center, Mercy Ministry, Community Development

Singing for the moms.

Eirene Education Center, Community Development, Mercy Ministry

Presenting the mothers with their gifts.

Playing games with the moms.

More fun with the moms!

Receiving their certificates and passing along to first grade!

More proud parents and happy students!

Enjoying the movie!

It has been quite busy here these past two months. God has sent much help for construction and we have people scheduled throughout the rest of the summer too.

CONSTRUCTION - This past Saturday our church from Guadalajara, Cristo Redentor, came for a work day. There were over 30 people who came and they finished five projects in six hours! It was great. The front patio was poured, some beams were sanded and painted, sand was put under the swing set, all of the tile was moved to the roof, and the giant basket of mismatched socks got sorted (the job that never ends). They also started sanding the pillars so that they can be sealed and weeded the new vegetable gardens (also a never ending job, especially during this time of year, rainy season). The garden is growing very well.

INTERNS/VOLUNTEERS/VISITORS – Our nine month intern left but she’ll be back! She was a great help with anything and everything. An intern from last year came back for two months! Two ladies came down for a week and did much schoolwork with the big kids and planted our vegetable gardens. We are growing green beans, peas, carrots, sweet corn, cucumbers and squash at home and the fields hold maiz colorado (colored field corn) and regular field corn. During that same week a family from Illinois came too. They helped with lots of smaller projects which is always a huge help! They also sanded, painted and moved the swing set. Which was an incredible accomplishment considering its size! We hosted a team from Pennsylvania who built lower cabinets for the kitchen in four days! It is fabulous to have a place to put things now! They worked from 7 a.m. to midnight. We were kind of tired when they left but it was that great kind of tired. This month a young teacher, from New Jersey, came down to help teach the younger children. They seemed to do very well with her. There was also more help from a team of a father and his two teenage sons from NJ who came down for a week and helped Chuy with construction and farming, which is a never-ending job.

The children are doing very well. They are growing like weeds and doing really well in their schoolwork. It is so great to see them healthy and happy! We are praying for a full time teacher for this upcoming fall as they need structure. If we are blessed with a full time teacher and a helper for other various household duties, taking in more children will be a stronger possibility once the new bedroom is finished.